Whittall’s lawyers happy to make letters public

This media release is made by Stuart
Grieve QC and Stacey Shortall of Minter Ellison Rudd Watts,
who acted for Peter Whittall in his defence of the health
and safety charges brought by the Ministry of Business,
Innovation and Employment (now WorkSafe).

There has never
been any intention on Mr Whittall`s behalf to be anything
other than open about what his lawyers know about the
circumstances in which the Ministry decided not to
proceed.

In light of certain statements reported
yesterday, Mr Grieve QC has today written to the
Ministry’s lawyer asking him to support Mr Grieve's
intention to ensure that WorkSafe accurately represents to
the New Zealand public what occurred in relation to the
Ministry’s decision to offer no evidence in support of the
charges.

This is important because, as Mr Whittall's
lawyers see it, the way this matter has developed with
regard to their role in the process which led to the charges
being dismissed is being misrepresented.

Any suggestion it
was Mr Whittall's defence team who initiated discussions
about the prosecution being resolved without trial is
incorrect. It was the Ministry which initiated discussions
about the possibility of a resolution in July 2013.

Mr
Whittall's lawyers had been writing to the Ministry since
May 2013 expressing concerns about the integrity of the
Ministry’s investigation and disclosure process. These
were significant issues that the defence believed, and still
believe, went to the heart of whether the prosecution
against Mr Whittall could ever succeed. Such concerns were
described in memoranda filed with the District Court in May,
July and August 2013.

It was made clear to Mr Whittall's
lawyers that any payment to the families and survivors could
not be made in sole return for the charges being dismissed.
This position was accepted by the defence team, even though
they believed funds could be better used by the families and
survivors than paid to lawyers to defend what they
considered to be a flawed case.

Three letters were sent by
Mr Grieve QC to the Ministry’s lawyer regarding resolution
of the prosecution without the need for a very lengthy and
expensive trial at which the various allegations would be
the subject of detailed challenge. The first letter was sent
on 7 August 2013. The second letter was Sent on 16 October
2013. At the Ministry’s request, in early December 2013,
that letter was amended to accommodate the Ministry’s
position that the payment be made into the District Court
instead of using a trust structure. The amended letter also
contained a new paragraph 2 which set out matters which the
Ministry suggested should be added to the letter. The letter
was nearly identical to the original 16 October version and
not "sanitised" in any fashion.

Neither Mr Whittall nor Mr
Grieve have any issue with any of their letters on this
matter being made public. As a matter of protocol, WorkSafe
will need to mutually
agree.

A total of seven new areas will be opened up to oil and gas exploration under its block offer tendering system, as the New Zealand government seeks to concentrate activity in a few strategically chosen areas. More>>

“The Prime Minister reassured New Zealanders that ‘post the passing of this law, will you all of a sudden find thousands of workers who are denied having a tea break? The answer is absolutely not’... Cotton On is proposing to remove tea and meal breaks for workers in its safety sensitive distribution centre. How long before other major chains try and follow suit?” More>>